Coleslaw makes a very refreshing accompaniment to any main course planned for a picnic, or a barbecue.

I like my coleslaw with mayonnaise dressing, but for those who do not like mayo, I created my own recipe with a Light Ranch Buttermilk Salad Dressing.

I enjoyed the taste of my creation, and decided to share the recipe with all of you.

The idea for this coleslaw sprouted  from my leftover shredded cabbage, which I used for the Quick Ukrainian Borscht, posted earlier.

Makes 3 1/2 cups of salad.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups coleslaw mix (8 oz).  To make your own, check out my TIP below.
• 1/3 cup carrots, shredded (use a large eye shredder)
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs. fresh dill, chopped
• 1/3 cup chives, chopped
• 1/2 cup Light Ranch Buttermilk Salad Dressing
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 Tbs. Apple Cider Vinegar, or White Vinegar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine coleslaw mix, shredded carrots, onions, dill, chives, salt, pepper, and vinegar.
2. Toss together, to mix it all in.
3. Fold  in the salad dressing.
4. Serve immediately, or keep it refrigerated until ready to use.

Enjoy this light version of a very refreshing veggie salad.

TIP: To make your own coleslaw mix, shred 1/2 head of medium size regular cabbage to make 3 cups.  The ready made coleslaw mix consists of mainly regular cabbage, with some shredded red cabbage and carrots. You can add some shredded red cabbage for color variation, but it’s not necessary.

Passover is a religious holiday for the Jewish people, but besides the spiritual part, the secular part includes lots of delicious food.

Most holidays, no matter if they are religious or secular, include large gatherings of family and friends, and lots of food to share with everyone.

Since this is the season for Easter and Passover, I will be sharing some of my recipes with all of you to try out, and would like to hear your comments.

Even if you do not celebrate any of these holidays, you still can try the recipes and enjoy the food.

Today I will share another recipe from Andi, for Vegetarian Matzoh Lasagna, which she prepares for their Passover gathering.

I modified this recipe slightly, since I used fresh veggies, as I did not have the veggie crumbles, on hand. I also used spinach and carrots, instead of mushrooms.

This recipe makes 6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 Matzoh Sheets (I used 5)
• 15 oz. Ricotta Cheese (I used Park Skim)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 whole egg
• 1/4 tsp. Basil
• 1/4 tsp. Oregano
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 8 oz. chopped spinach, frozen
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs. of Canola oil, or margarine
• 1/2 cup cubed carrots, frozen
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 24 oz. jar of Ragu ( I used Perego Chunky Veggie Sauce )

Directions:

1. Warm  up a frying pan on medium heat.
2. Add oil, and saute the onion and garlic.
3. Add the chopped frozen spinach, and saute until thawed.
4. Microwave the carrots until thawed (45 seconds).
5. Mix the Ricotta Cheese, 1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese, 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, salt and pepper, Basil and Oregano.
6. Add egg, and mix it in.
7. Set aside.
8. Mix the spinach with the carrots, add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Set aside.
10. Use a square 8 x 8 glass pan, spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce on the bottom.
11. Wet two slices of Matzoh sheets with water, and lay over the sauce.
12. Place 1/2 of the Ricotta Cheese mixture over the Matzoh Sheets.
13. Spread some tomato sauce over the cheese, and top with 1/2 of the spinach/carrot mixture.
14. Wet one more piece of Matzoh Sheet with water.
15. Place it on top of the spinach/carrot mixture.
16. Spread the remaining Ricotta Cheese mixture, sauce and spinach mixture.
17. Wet two more pieces of Matzoh sheets with water.
18. Place them both over the spinach mixture.
19. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the top and sides of the lasagna casserole.

20.  Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan Cheese over the top of the lasagna.

21.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

22.  Bake lasagna on the middle rack of the oven for 40 minutes.

23.  Sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella Cheese over the top, and bake for 10 more minutes, or until cheese melts,and browns slightly.

24.  Remove from the oven.

25.  Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

If you are not planning to serve this meal the same day, do not add the Mozzarella cheese until reheating before serving.

Enjoy.

Roasted whole chicken for a family meal, is one of my favorite recipes.  It is perfect for anyone  who likes to have a home cooked meal without too much fuss, and still having leftovers for couple more meals.  A dream come true for all!

When I roast a whole chicken, I also like to add lots of carrot chunks into the roasting pan, as these turn out very tasty, and become my side veggies.

I also make baked potatoes, to utilize the cooking time and the oven heat.

If you have a large enough oven, you can even place a 9 X 9 inch pan of brownies, during the last 25 minutes of cooking time, and get your dessert done at the same time as the rest of the meal.  Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

Also, once you set it all up and  place it  in the oven, you have at least 1 1/2 hours of free time to set your table, watch TV, or just sit down with a glass of wine and enjoy the aroma of the cooking food, filling up your kitchen.

Serves 4-8.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken for roasting (Perdue Oven Roaster , about 6 lbs, is my favorite)
• 4 carrots, cut to chunks
• 2 celery sticks, cut to chunks (I trim the bottom off the celery bunch, then cut off another 4 inches, separate, rinse under running water)
• 1 onion, quartered
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 cups water
• salt, pepper, and garlic powder
• 4-8 Russet Potatoes, for baking (optional) see directions below

Directions:

1. Remove the chicken from the plastic wrap, and discard the wrap.
2. Remove the giblets from the chicken’s cavity (these are separately wrapped in a bag and stored inside the chicken torso)
3. If you plan to use the giblets (usually the heart, stomach, liver and neck), open the bag and remove its contents, or just discard them, if you do not wish to use them.
4. I remove the skin from the neck, and discard it.  Rinse the heart and stomach, and place it all in the roasting pan with the chicken.
5. Do not include the liver, as it will give the roasting juices a bitter taste.  You can use the liver to make chicken liver pate, if you like.  I only do this if the liver looks really fresh.
6. Check the whole chicken for any remaining feathers, and remove.  I also trim off the flabby skin around the back opening of the chicken cavity, and the tail bone, and discard it all.
7. Rinse the whole chicken inside, and out, under running water.
8. Drain out any remaining water from the chicken cavity.
9. Season the whole chicken, inside and outside , with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
10. Pour 2 cups of water into a roasting pan.
11. Place the neck in the middle of the roasting pan.
12. Place the chicken on the top of the neck (this will prevent the chicken from sticking to the pan).
13. Place inside the chicken: one bay leaf, one chunk of onion, a couple of celery chunks.
14. Place the remaining bay leaves, garlic cloves,celery, carrot and onion chunks all around the outside of the chicken.
15. Cover with a lid, or heavy duty aluminum foil.
16. Preheat the over to 350 F degrees.
17. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack.
18. Set the oven timer for 1 1/2 hours.
19. Uncover the chicken for the last 15 minutes of roasting, baste with the pan juices, and let it crisp up, and brown lightly.
20. When the chicken breast temperature is at 160-165, your chicken is done.
21. Remove from the oven and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving and serving.
22. Remove the bay leaves and the celery chunks and discard.
23. The roasted garlic may be used for making garlic bread.
24. Remove the roasted carrots and arrange few on your serving platter with the cut up chicken (follow same carving instructions as for roasted turkey).
25. Remove the rest of the carrots into a serving dish, and serve as a side veggie.

Directions for baked potatoes

1. Do not peel potatoes.
2. Wash potatoes well, under running water.
3. Rub potatoes with oil (vegetable, canola or olive)
4. Fully wrap in foil paper.
5. Place the wrapped potatoes in the oven,  on both sides by the roasting pan, at the same time as the chicken, if the potatoes are fairly large.
6. For smaller potatoes, put them in the oven for the last hour of chicken roasting time.
7. Carefully, using oven mitts, remove potatoes from the oven, leave them wrapped in foil, to keep them warm.

You may unwrap them before serving, but it is also fine to serve them wrapped, in a large serving bowl.

Enjoy.

TIP. I like to serve salt, butter and sour cream, on the side, to be used with the baked potatoes.

I also pour some of the pan juices over the cut up chicken, especially the breast meat, before serving.

I save the remaining pan juices and the chicken carcass, for making soup for the next meal, and the left over chicken meat may be used to make Chicken Salad, Chicken Tetrazzini,  Chicken Croquettes, Chicken Buffalo Dip, Chicken Casadia, etc.

Every time I see a ready assembled vegetable platter at a grocery store, just to pick up and go to a party, I cringe at its cost.  I think it mostly reflects the price of labor, rather than the value of the veggies.

I can understand if you are in a hurry and rally do not have time to put it all together, but even that is not a good enough excuse.

It doesn’t take a culinary genius to cut up raw vegetables, and to arrange them on a platter.

Even if you still have to buy the ready made dip, you will save money, doing the platter yourself.

Here is what you will need:

• Baby carrots (1/2 bag)
• Celery stalks ( 3 stalks)
• Green Peppers (1)
• Red Pepper (optional)
• Yellow Peppers (optional)
• Cherry Tomatoes (1 container)
• Cucumber (one)

I know once you add up the cost of these items you might come up close to what the platter costs, but you will not use up all of these vegetables for this one platter.  You will have leftovers for your own use.

If you want to cut down the price even further, skip the peppers all together, and fill up that space with celery.  Also, instead of cherry tomatoes you can select broccoli and cauliflower.

You may also substitute the baby carrots with regular carrots, peeled and cut them up to chunks (french fries size), these will also cut down on the cost of carrots.  It all depends on your budget and the current price of vegetables.

Maybe you don’t have a vegetable platter to arrange these on, or you don’t want to use your own and worry about bringing it back home.  In that case, stop at a Dollar store  and purchase one for a Dollar.

Once all assembled, wrap it up with foil, or plastic wrap, and off you go.  Not only you will same some money, you will feel good about your creation, and maybe impress someone as well.

TIP: To make a quick and easy vegetable dip, use 1 cup of sour cream, add 1/2 packet of Good Seasons Zesty Italian

flavored salad dressing mix, mix it all up, spoon it in a plastic container and it’s ready.  Money saved again.  This whole platter will cost about $6, if you do it yourself.

Everyone has their favorite cake for special occasions.  One of my son’s favorite cakes is a carrot cake,  so I always make it for his birthday.  This recipe offers cream cheese frosting, which I normally use, but also a cream cheese glaze, for those who are not so fond of frosting.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. salt
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 cup canola oil
• 3 cups carrots, peeled and shredded (about 10 carrots)
• 4 eggs

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 4 Tbs. butter, softened
• 2 Tbs. vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioner sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease and flour 2 cake pans.
3. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg, thoroughly in mixer bowl.
4. Add oil, carrots, and eggs.
5. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.
6. Pour batter into pans.
7. Bake 1 hr.
8. Cool 10 minutes on a cake rack.
9. Remove from pan, and cool completely.
10. Spread frosting on top of the first cake, cover with the second cake (bottom part up).
11. Frost the top and sided of the cake.

If you prefer to glaze you cake rather than frosting it, here is a recipe for the glaze:

• 3 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1 2/3 cup confectioner sugar
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients, and drizzle over the top of the cake,  so that it drips down the sides.
Refrigerate for  one hour before serving.

Tip:  I saved 3 Tbs. of frosting for decorations, and mixed 2 Tbs. with red and yellow food coloring to make orange frosting for the carrots, and 1 Tbs. of frosting mixed with green food coloring, for carrot tops.  I used a cake decorating bag,and plain tip, to form the carrots and tops.

If you like a lot of frosting (especially in the middle layer), you need to double the above recipe.